Improve Don’t Move!

With the recession pushing on and the housing market somewhat unpredictable and depressed, you don’t have to move to live in a house that expresses who you really are. There are some simple ways of sprucing up your home without spending a fortune – and some of them are things that you can take with you if you do eventually decide to move too!

On The Walls

Add some artwork to the walls will brighten things up and also means that you can take them with you when you eventually move home but you don’t have to stick to standard canvases and paintings. Think outside the box for a contemporary feel. The Binary Box does a great range of wall stickers and decals that are easy to apply and remove and make a striking difference to a room. Their Best of British range which includes a red double-decker bus, bunting and London street signs are genius and we also love their bird cage sticker. Prices start from just £19.99.

A wall-mounted Juju Hat, a traditional Cameroonian ceremonial hat also know as a Bamileke headdress, makes a great decoration for your home, with the lush feathering lending extra texture and character to any wall. Available in a vibrant range of colours it makes a fantastic focal point in any room and adds warmth and character to bare walls (£189.95 from Design My World).

Finally I love the frivolity and eclecticism of this Tres Chic Stag Head, £49 from Rockett St George. This piece of wall art features floral and vintage text designs that will add fun to any environment.

Bathrooms
Bathrooms can be glammed up relatively cheaply, particularly if you already have a basic white suite. A lick of paint to brighten it up and some mirrors can change the whole feel of your bathroom. Get the bath panel replaced with a bevelled mirror and for that extra glamour hang two identical mirrors side by side on the longest wall of the bathroom to bounce light around the room. A few strategically placed Diptyque rose scented candles (£38 from Harrods), and you will never want to leave this spa like environment.

Changing Rooms

Refacing your kitchen is a way of giving your kitchen a makeover that will change its look and feel completely. If your kitchen is more than a few years old, changing the kitchen doors will give it the appearance of a brand new kitchen at a fraction of the cost of a brand new kitchen. Land and Larks is a great place to choose the style and colour that you want from a great range and then order online – your kitchen will look fabulous in no time.

Another way of changing the feel of a room is wallpapering a feature wall. Choose wallpaper that is artwork itself such as De Gournay‘s Temple Newsam. While it is expensive, you only need to use it on the shortest wall in your living room or bedroom to make a world of difference.

Adding A RoomIf space is short and you can’t expand up into the loft how about expanding into the garden? Putting a garden room (or shed as the planning people know it) into your back yard can be a simple solution that doesn’t have to cost the earth. One example of these is The Box from Contemporary Garden Rooms. Installed with fully insulated floors wall and ceilings, double-glazed sliding doors and low maintenance internal walls – you’ll be as snug as a bug in a rug, within the privacy and beauty of your own garden room.

Whether you use it as an extra bedroom, office, movie room or living room it doesn’t matter as with no planning permission required and prices starting from £7,950 it is cheaper than moving!

Miss B

Miss B is a Belle About Town who likes to bring a little bit of style into every aspect of her life. An experienced journalist with over a decade in the industry she turned to the web to fill a gap for tech-savvy stylish women who want the best life has to offer at their fingertips. She loves a decadent cocktail bar, a beautifully cut dress, the perfect pair of heels, quality over quantity and is partial to Asian-fusion food, enjoys holidaying in the sun and shopping breaks to New York. But her first love is of course London!

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